Singing and Running – the intersection

I never realized before how similar running and singing are. But it makes sense

Both benefit from efficient blowing of air in and out of the body

They can benefit greatly from good posture and core strength

This last part was graphically demonstrated to me this week. But first, a digression.

Deb and I began our courtship while we were in a choir in college – she a soprano, I the director. We were trying not to be public about our growing love for each other, to avoid the appearance of favoritism. But in our last rehearsal before I “retired”, we announced that we were engaged.

Once we were out of school, working and married, we joined a church choir in Portland, Oregon. I occasionally did some directing stints, such as directing a couple of summer musicals at the church.

Then, we had our first child, and pretty much decided to drop out of singing, so we could take care of her.

21 years later, kids are all out of the house, so we decide to join a choir again.

In parallel, over the past year my running coach has been working on my running form, posture and core strength, and it really helps my running. But guess what, it really helps the singing too!

This week during a rehearsal, we were singing through a piece, and I slipped my hand on to my stomach. My abdominal muscles were hard as a table!

It makes me wish I had worked on core strength in my earlier days, but it’s nice to have now.